Red Ribbons
by Sweet Little Darling
Summary: Katherine Pierce and Elijah Mikaelson were just forming their lives again when a baby girl is left on their doorstep. After much arguing they decide to raise the baby and she ends up changing their lives forever. Series of one shots. Kalijah family fluff.
1. A Baby of their Own

_One: A Baby of their Own_

A slow smirk appeared on Katherine Pierce's face as her black bra strap slowly fell down one creamy shoulder. She couldn't believe that this was really happening, she and Elijah were together for real this time. After Elijah had dumped her for lying about Jeremy's death, Katherine had laid low for a while, pouting and drinking way more than she should.

Then when she realize that Elijah would likely be too stubborn to ask for a second chance, Katherine had swallowed her pride and had come visit him in some sad, but classy apartment that he had in Manhattan with a cup of his favorite black coffee and a box of his favorite bagels with cream cheese.

The good thing about it was that Katherine didn't have to apologize, a flutter of her eyelashes and the gift of coffee and bagels was all of the apologies that Elijah needed. He had immediately taken her in his arms and they, had the most incredible sex in his king size bed.

After everything things were finally starting to go their way Elena was back in Mystic Falls juggling Salvatore's, Rebekah was in Europe with Matty Blue Eyes, and Klaus was in New Orleans chasing god knows what and Katherine finally had a chance to be happy and about time too.

They had quickly left New York because all though it had their favorite designer shops they couldn't stand the stinky city air and the crowd of tacky tourists and Katherine had suggested that they rent a small and lovely French style house with a pretty garden in the outskirts of Paris where they could be as loud as they wanted in their lovemaking and they could have their privacy.

Best of all they wouldn't be interrupted by neither Elijah's annoying siblings nor the Mystic Falls gang who seemed to follow her everywhere she went. It was just her and Elijah.

Katherine couldn't help but think of this as their second honeymoon, Elijah and her would get up late every morning and Elijah would make her the most delicious blueberry pancakes that she had ever eaten, and then they would tour the gardens and Katherine would point out the kind of herbs that she had used as a young girl, and they would end their day having wild, passionate sex.

One fellow Sunday morning, Katherine laid in bed surprise, Elijah usually woke up way early. Katherine used that opportunity to curl up next to him as she laid her head on his chest. "Good morning." When Elijah didn't respond, she frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Do you hear that?" Elijah asked frowning a bit. "That crying-no whimpering, it's coming from outside."

Katherine shrugged, annoyed. "It's probably a cat or something. Come back to bed, Elijah."

Elijah ignored her as he quickly dressed in yesterday's clothes because not even the birds and the bees were allowed to see him without his three piece suit.

"Elijah," Katherine groaned, but put on her black, silk robe and followed him downstairs. She found Elijah frozen in front of the doorway. "What is it? That darn cat better not have gone to the bathroom-"

"No, Katerina, look." Elijah took a step back and Katherine's eyes widen when she saw a basket. Inside the basket was a baby girl covered in pink blankets. The baby didn't seem to be more than three months old.

"What's a baby doing here?" she shrieked as she dragged the basket inside. She picked up the baby who was asleep and curled up against Katherine's chest. "Elijah?"

"There was a note inside," Elijah said as he read the note out loud that had been written in French. "I am a poor woman that can't take care of my baby daughter, though I love her with all of my heart. I have seen both you and your wife for the past few days and you seem like a nice couple. I hope that you and your wife can raise my daughter as if she were your own and shower her with love."

"That's it?" Katherine snapped. "A woman drops a baby on our doorstep and that's all that she can say? What if we, were serial killers?"

The baby suddenly gave a little cry and Katherine noticed that she had big olive green eyes. Her little fist pounded on Katherine's chest, demanding her to feed her.

Katherine winced. "Sorry, hon, these stop working a long time ago." She said referring to her boobs. "Um, Elijah do we even have milk? I think the only thing in the fridge is vodka and blood bags." She paused. "Can babies drink ice tea?"

"Of course not." Elijah sighed as he opened the fridge. "We have some milk. We'll need to go to the store later to buy the powder kind, I don't think it's healthy to give the baby whole milk, but she's starving this will have to do." He started heating up some milk.

"What are we going to put it in? We don't exactly have bottles laying around. There, there honey don't cry, please." Katherine said as she tried to soothe the crying baby.

Elijah pulled out a small shot glass. "This will have to do for now, we'll get some bottles when we go buy the milk. She's going to need diapers, and clothes, oh and baby wipes-"

"Elijah," Katherine interrupted him. "Why are you talking like we're planning to keep the baby?" the baby was just starting to pull on Katherine's curls. "In case you've forgotten, we're vampires, not The Brady Bunch. Bringing a baby into our world is too dangerous."

"Not if we take the necessary precaution, Katerina." He insisted as he put the milk in a shot glass and place it over the baby's tiny tongue careful not to spill it. The baby took, small eager sips. "She's so small and delicate, we can't just drop her off in another doorstep."

"I'm not saying that," Katherine interrupted him. "I'm saying that we find her a good family."

"Do you think we won't be good parents?" Elijah sounded hurt.

"Of course not." Katherine said as she looked at the baby again. She was so sweet. "But I just think it's pointless to get excited over something as delicate as a baby. I won't say it again Elijah, she can't stay."

* * *

><p>Katherine and Elijah didn't speak for the rest of the day and Elijah numbly thought that when Katherine said no, she meant no and maybe Katherine was right. He had bought a small jar of the powder baby milk and a couple of bottles. He had warmed up a bottle and had come up to feed the baby.<p>

He paused when he saw Katherine sitting on the edge of their bed, the baby was curled up in her arms fast asleep and she was singing to her an Old Bulgarian nursery rhyme.

"Would you call me a hypocrite if I said I wanted to keep her?" Katherine gave a hollow laugh.

"No," Elijah said gently. "Wanting a child just makes you human, Katerina." Katherine rolled her eyes. "Have you thought about names?"

"Nicolette," Katherine whispered tucking the baby's blanket so that she would sleep more comfortably. Her eyes were full on longing, she had always wanted to hold her baby daughter and now this child had just been left of her doorstep needing a mother. "It's a French name so she'll connect to her roots at least. We can call her Nikki."

"Nicolette is a beautiful name," Elijah murmured as he look down at Katherine. It was so easy to pretend that Katherine was carrying his child. "Cornelia can be her middle name. Sweetheart, would you mind terribly if her surname is Mikaelson?"

Katherine shook her head. "Just that her surname is Mikaelson-Petrova." She gave a happy, little sigh. "It looks like we're parents."

-End of Chapter One-

Please review! So this story will be a series of one shots babyhood-teenage years so if you have any ideas for one shots I would be happy to hear them!


	2. Telling the Family

_Two: Telling the Family_

Five Months Old. . .

Katherine frowned as she stared at five month old Nikki who was looking at her unexpectedly. Even though it had been two months since Nikki had been left on their doorstep in France, didn't mean that Elijah and Katherine knew what they were doing. In fact they were more confused if that was even possible.

They had spent hours looking at the internet and buying baby books to know what the hell they were doing so that they didn't accidently kill the baby. They had left France and settled in a small town in Louisiana, but not before they found out who Nikki's parents really were.

They found out that Nikki had been born on July 24th and that she had been baptized Elisabeth Marie Roche, her father was dead and that her mother could barely afford to feed herself, they hadn't said anything to Mrs. Roche, but they felt a bit better now that they weren't completely clueless.

She wrinkled her nose slightly as she dumped the dirty diaper in the trash and then held up a new one. "Ok, baby powder first . . . no, wiping." She muttered under her breath as she pounded on the back of the baby powder jar and white powder started spreading everywhere including on Nikki's face. Nikki sneezed.

Katherine winced. "Sorry." She hated the fact that she had been stuck on diaper dirty, but it was only fair. Elijah had been getting up at three AM every morning when Nikki wanted her bottle, not that Elijah mind doing it, she guessed it was the highlight of his day.

Besides Elijah had the talent of putting a fussy baby to sleep quickly, he had joked that it was because he was used to dealing with headstrong women a joke that Katherine had not find amusing so Katherine was stuck on diaper and clothes duty while Elijah usually contributed to the food and rocking her to sleep, since if Katherine was in charge she would probably end up feeding Nikki Cheerios.

"Ok, time to get dress," Katherine mumbled once she finally managed to put the diaper on as she went towards the closet. For the past few weeks it seemed like she had bought every baby clothes in the entire twenty five mile radius and designer brands only of course.

Katherine couldn't help, but feel her entire body trembling the main reason why they had left France was because Elijah wanted his family to meet Nikki and he had invited Stefan as well to warn the rest of the Mystic Falls gang apparently that if either of them messed with either Nikki or Katherine that they would be messing with him.

And he had actually made it a luncheon party, like an actual party and he had invited all of the people that Katherine hated and vice versa. She finally dressed Nikki in a pale pink knitted sweater, a pair of white wool pants, and matching pink Mary Janes.

Her dark brown curls had growned and Katherine put a matching pink ribbon in her hair and smiled. She looked like a little doll and no matter what snide comments they made today it wouldn't change the fact that Nikki was her daughter.

She picked Nikki up and Nikki rested her small head on Katherine's shoulder. Her little hand playing with Katherine's necklace.

"There are my girls," Elijah said smiling as he kissed Katherine on the forehead. He had been smiling a lot lately. "Don't worry," he said noticing Katherine's expression. "Everything will be fine, I promise."

Katherine fought the urge to roll her eyes. Nikki was Elijah's daughter too, even though this was possibly the worst mistake of his life. The doorbell rang and Katherine looked up. "Did you mention that I would be here too?"

Elijah didn't look at her. "Not exactly." Before Katherine could throw a vase at his head, the door opened and Klaus and Rebekah and Stefan walked in. Stefan and Klaus had been arguing about something, but their fighting ceased when Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Why are you holding a baby?"

"Hello, to you too," Katherine said sarcastically. She couldn't help, but be nervous, not because of Rebekah and Stefan who were harmless in a way, but because of Klaus. The man had murdered her entire family, he wouldn't think twice about harming a baby.

"Katerina," Klaus said silkily and before Katherine could even blink, Klaus had pressed her against the wall. Katherine held in a gasp as she cradle Nikki's head and Nikki burst into tears. Both Rebekah and Elijah pulled Klaus off her while Stefan stood looking lost.

"Get your hands off her!" Rebekah snapped. Are you blind you idiot? She's carrying a baby."

"I don't care about the baby," Klaus said darkly. "Katerina slipped through my hands once, I am not letting it happen again."

"You won't harm either one of them not if I have anything to say about it." Elijah said darkly. "Klaus, Rebekah, and Stefan listen well, the child that Katerina is carrying is our daughter. We have adopted her." He told them about the fact that Nikki had been left in a basket in France. "So if you harm either of them mark my word it will not be pleasant."

Klaus scowled. "You finally lost it."

"Then go," Katherine spat. "I don't want you anywhere near us." Klaus looked like he wanted to utter something else, but he didn't and instead turned away.

Stefan looked beyond awkward in the mist of the family drama. "Well, congratulations, cute baby." He gave a swift nod. "I'll be sure to spread the news, and I um think I'll skip the tea cakes." He soon followed Klaus.

"Well, I think you both lost your minds, especially when it's involving you, but I guess I'll survive," Rebekah snorted, scowling slightly at Katherine before coming to Nikki who had stopped crying. "Hello, my darling it's Auntie Bex. Why doesn't anyone leave a baby on my doorstep? What's her name anyway?"

"Nicolette." Elijah said grateful that like always he could count on Rebekah. "But Katherine calls her Nikki."

"Well, if she's still alive then Katherine must be doing something right." Rebekah said and in Rebekah speak was as closest as Katherine was going to get to a friendship bracelet.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

-End of Chapter Two-

Thanks for your reviews, favorites, and follows!


	3. First Words and Sickness

_Three: First Words and Sickness_

Seven Months Old. . .

"Mama," Katherine ordered to Nikki as she placed her in the high chair and put a bowl of baby food-peaches with bananas in front of her with Nikki's favorite Winnie the Pooh spoon. "Come on, darling say Mama."

"No!" Nikki gurgle, her second favorite word dropping the spoon on the bowl and spilling some baby food on Katherine's cheek.

Elijah stifled a laugh as he handed her a napkin. "Be patient, she's still young." Nikki knew a total of four words-mine, no, kitty, and Dada.

"Easy for you to say," Katherine rolled her eyes. "Dada was her first word, you practically bought her a car and made than your new ringtone."

Elijah smiled at her. "Well, you can't blame me for being pleased."

Katherine sighed as she fed Nikki some baby food. "I know I'm acting childish, I guess I'm just a little anxious."

"It's perfectly normal," Elijah cocked his head. "I think someone needs a bath."

Katherine groaned. "Nikki." Nikki had dumped her whole bowl of food on herself. Nikki giggled. She picked her up and looked at Elijah. "Can you fill the baby bath with water, while I take her dirty clothes off?"

Elijah nodded as he filled the baby bath with warm water and placed it in the nursery as Katherine slipped off Nikki's dirty purple overalls and pink socks. "Shoot, I forgot the towels."

"I'll get them," Elijah said leaving Katherine and Nikki.

Katherine put Nikki on the tub and started cleaning her up and washing her dark curls with her favorite strawberry shampoo. "Why do you have to be so naughty, Nikki?" Katherine cooed. "You need to be a good little girl for Mommy and Daddy. Will you be a good girl from now on?"

"No." Nikki said firmly as she started splashing in the tub.

Katherine laughed, I figured."

Nikki suddenly put her two small hands against Katherine's cheek and stared at her with her olive green eyes. She opened her pink little lips and said. "Mama."

Katherine's eyes actually welled up with tears as she hugged her. "Oh, Nikki, that's so sweet. Say it again."

"Mama. Mama."

"Here they are," Elijah paused and looked back startled. "Are you crying?"

"No!" Katherine said furiously wiping a small tear at the corner of her eye. "Elijah she said, Mama."

"Did you, Nikki good girl." Elijah kissed the top of her head. "Also you're the only person that has made Mommy cry."

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Katherine frowned as she looked at the clock, it was almost ten. Elijah usually got Nikki into bed by nine-thirty, though she had been crying a lot ever since she started teething, which was not pleasant.<p>

She went towards the nursery which was covered strictly in pink with a bunch of cute, fluffy stuff that Katherine loathed, but that Elijah thought were appropriate for a little girl's bedroom. "Elijah, is something wrong?"

Elijah was rocking Nikki back and forth, she wasn't crying, but she was whimpering slightly. "I think she's running a fever." Elijah said frowning slightly and he felt Nikki's forehead. Nikki gave out a little whine. "She's been fussy and she hasn't eaten." He said pointing to the full bottle of formula.

Katherine frowned as she petted Nikki's forehead. She did feel warm. Katherine bit her wrist and blood poured out.

"Katherine, no." Elijah scolded.

Katherine glared. "Why the hell not? Do you want her to suffer?"

"Of course not," he said looking slightly offended. "This is the first time that she's been sick, and we can't give her vampire blood for every little thing, we need to build up her immune system. Go to the store and pick up some baby Tylenol or something."

Katherine sighed and stomped her foot, but she knew that Elijah was right, at least it was only a little fever. When he heard Katherine's car pull out the driveway, Elijah sat down on the rocking chair trying unsuccessfully to get her to sleep. "Come on baby," he murmured after a while. "You need sleep."

Nikki fussed, waving her tiny fists in the air in displeasure. Elijah tried to calm her down by giving her the bottle again, but Nikki pushed it away. Her face was flushed pink from the fever and she started whaling in discomfort and pain nearly breaking Elijah's heart.

"Don't cry, don't cry sweetheart," he cooed, but Nikki kept crying. "Please don't cry, Nikki. Please be good for daddy." Elijah hesitated before he bit his wrist. He knew he was being beyond hyprocrical as he dropped a few drops in the formula bottle and gave it to Nikki.

Nikki managed to swallow a few drops and within minutes her fever seemed to go down and she laid limply in Elijah's arms in exhaustion. Ten minutes later Katherine practically kicked the door open. "Hey, I got the Tylenol." She paused when saw Elijah putting Nikki to bed.

Elijah winced. "That won't be necessary."

She rolled her eyes and smiled as she kissed him. "I knew you couldn't do it, you're a real softy when you want to be."

Elijah smiled as he tugged on her blouse. "Well, if you're still in the mood, why don't we go play doctor?"

-End of Chapter Three-


	4. Birthday Disasters

_Four: Birthday Disasters_

One Year Old. . .

Katherine put her hands on her hips as she looked around the dining room, the entire place was covered head to toe in Minnie Mouse and every inch of it was decorate pink. A huge cake decorated with frosting was sitting in the middle.

Katherine kissed Nikki on the cheek. "Well, birthday girl are you ready for your party?"

Nikki giggled and clapped her small hands together, Katherine had dressed her in a puffy pink dress with the small Minnie Mouse ears that they had gotten on their many trips to Disney World, a place that both Katherine and Elijah hated because of the crowds, but that Nikki loved.

Katherine couldn't believe that her baby was one year old already, she was growing way too fast for her liking, and she wished that she could be a baby forever. They had planned a small birthday celebration and had only invited Rebekah who had already called twice making sure that Katherine didn't screw things up.

Elijah admitted that he had also invited Klaus to bury the hatchet, but he had made it perfectly clear that Katherine and Nikki were his family now something that Klaus didn't seem to get through his thick head, of all the women in the world and he had to pick the one that he hated the most.

"Katerina, did you get the birthday candles?" Elijah asked as he came into the kitchen.

Katherine bit her lip. "Damn, I forgot, I'll go to the store right now, can you take care of Nikki?"

"Why don't we all go?" Elijah suggested as he grabbed the car keys. "We've been cooped up here all day, let's go get some fresh air." Twenty minutes later they were at Powell a store so big that it seemed to have everything from rocking horses to flat screen TV's.

"Here we are, the birthday aisle," Katherine said as she pushed Nikki's stroller. She hadn't buckle her up and Nikki seemed fussy she had just learned to crawl and hated sitting down for almost ten minutes, she wanted to crawl and would often kick her tiny feet in protest if they kept her in a stroller for more than twenty minutes and it drove Katherine crazy when she crawled around the house fearing that she would hurt herself.

While Katherine and Elijah argued about birthday candles, Elijah wanted a simple one while Katherine wanted the one shaped like a purse, Nikki took advantage of the fact that she wasn't buckle down to her stroller and started eagerly crawling away from her parents' prying eyes.

"Fine, we'll get this one," Katherine rolled her eyes as she plucked the candle from Elijah. "Anything to stop this ridiculous fighting."

"We weren't fighting." Elijah sounded hurt. He paused. "Katherine, where is Nikki?"

"I don't-"her brown eyes widened. "Elijah, she's gone, I hate it when she runs off!"

"Runs off, the only thing she can do is crawl," he snapped. "You didn't buckle her in the stroller."

"No and look fighting isn't going to make things any easier," she looked worried. "We need to find her, we're vampires for crying out loud, Elijah what if there are babynappers."

"Katerina," he said in a warning tone, slightly panic. "Not now please, all right you go left and I'll go right. Call if you find her."

Half an hour later they still hadn't manage to find her and now Elijah and Katherine were both frustrated and worried. "Where the hell is she? She couldn't have gone that far," she bit her lip. "How did I manage to lose a baby?"

"Um, ma'am," a short woman with orange hair said. "Did you say you lost your baby?"

Katherine glare. "What's it to you."

"I just heard someone say the found a baby in the furniture display, they were wondering who-"

Katherine and Elijah didn't let her finish as they raced to the furniture display not caring that they were using their vampire speed. A few workers were huddled near a table and Elijah shooed them away. Nikki had curled up into a tiny ball and had fallen asleep.

"Nikki," Katherine gave a sigh of relief as she picked up the baby. "Thank God."

Nikki gave a sleepy little yawn as she curled up next to Katherine. "Mama."

Elijah frowned. "That was very naughty, Nikki. Don't ever do that again."

"Oh, Elijah don't scold her," Katherine said just happy to have her back. "It is her birthday."

* * *

><p>"…Happy birthday, dear Nikki, happy birthday to you!" they finished the chorus and Nikki clapped her hands along because she didn't know what she should be doing. Katherine set a tiny piece of cake in front of Nikki and handed her a plastic fork. Nikki dropped the fork to the floor and grabbed a fistful of cake and stuffed it in her mouth, her chubby cheeks were covered in pink frosting.<p>

"Smile, precious." Rebekah cooed as she took a picture. She showed the picture to Elijah and Katherine. "Yes, this is definably going to be my new wall paper."

"Don't be so impressed," Katherine rolled her eyes. "She does that every morning at breakfast." The doorbell rang and Katherine stood up. "I'll get it," she opened the door and paused when she saw Klaus. He was standing there with a somber look on his face and holding a small teddy with pink ribbon at its neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Elijah invited me," he said coolly. "And don't worry I won't hurt a precious curl in your head." Without another word he entered the kitchen.

"Nik!" Rebekah cried out, hugging him. "You came."

"I did," he cleared his throat. "Brother,"

"Niklaus," Elijah practically beamed. "It's lovely to see you."

"Well, I did come to see one special birthday girl." He said as he handed her the bear. "Happy birthday, Nicolette."

"Teddy," Nikki cooed as she grabbed the bear and covered it up with frosting. Her green eyes staring happily at her family.

-End of Chapter Four-


	5. First Days

_Five: First Days_

Four Years Old. . .

Katherine was so nervous this evening, that she didn't even bother hiding it like she would usually do, to not worry Nikki and Elijah. The ironic part was that it wasn't Klaus or anything supernatural related, it was the fact that tomorrow was Nikki's first day of preschool.

Katherine hadn't even wanted her to go, Nikki was her baby and she was used having the four year old girl trail behind her like a little duckling and the fact that tomorrow and from now on she would be under the charge of a stranger, well that really made her sweat.

"Honey," Elijah sighed as he entered the kitchen after dinner and saw as Katherine was hastily putting the dishes in the dishwasher so fast that she had already broken two of them. Elijah, unlike Katherine thought that school was a good opportunity for Nikki to branch out a little since Elijah and Katherine had been a little overprotective ever since she became their daughter.

"What?" Katherine snapped.

Elijah kissed her cheek and rubbed her shoulders. "You need to calm down, everything will be fine. Its preschool, not war and the teacher will be supervising Nikki the whole time-"

"Elijah, the teacher will probably have twenty other children to look after and you know how sneaky Nikki can be."

"Like mother, like daughter." Katherine didn't laugh. Elijah sighed. "Honey, I know you're worried, just like many other parents are worried when their kids go off to school, but look at this way Nikki is exited and you can't be a mother hen forever."

"Says who?" Katherine mumbled. "I know I'm being ridiculous, I'm just worried that's all, it's not easy to let go."

"I know." Elijah kissed her slowly, resting his hand on her hip. "I'll see you upstairs."

Elijah walked upstairs and saw that the light from Nikki's room was still on, Elijah sighed he had put her to bed ten minutes ago, but Nikki had a habit of disobeying. He opened the door and found Nikki having a tea party with her stuffed animals, Miss Pooh Bear and Cracker the Elephant.

Her dark little curls now reached halfway down her back and she was dressed in pink pajamas with purple hearts. "Daddy!" she squealed as she hugged his legs.

Elijah couldn't help but chuckle as he picked up Nikki and sat her in his lap. "What are you doing out of bed, young lady?"

"I'm having a tea party." She said simply.

Elijah picked up the stuff toys and put them in the bed next to her. "You need to go to sleep, you have school in the morning."

Nikki bit her lip before she asked. "Daddy is Mommy mad at me?"

"No," Elijah said surprise. "Why?"

"She just seems so sad," Nikki said. "Mommy doesn't want me to go to school, is school a scary place?"

"No," Elijah kissed the side of her forehead. "Mommy is just worried, you know how Mommy worries a lot sometimes, but she's not mad. Now go get some sleep."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Katherine and Elijah waited for the school bus to pick Nikki up, Katherine complained on why she couldn't drive her too school, but Elijah had simply said that she needed to stop being a mother hen and that Nikki needed to learn to be independent.<p>

"She's four!" Katherine had grumbled, but had untimely agreed with Elijah.

"There it is!" Nikki started jumping up and down when the yellow bus stopped. "Bye, Mommy, bye Daddy!"

"Bye, sweetheart," he said as he kissed her forehead. "Be a good girl and listen to Miss Abby all right?"

"Ok, Daddy." They watched as Nikki got up on the bus and she waved at them from a window.

Katherine sighed. "It's not going to get any easier, is it?"

Elijah looked at her sympathetically as he squeezed her hand. "I'm afraid not, sweetheart, but she can't stay a baby forever, she needs to grow up."

* * *

><p>"Mommy, mommy!" Nikki practically bounced though the door dragging her small blue backpack behind her.<p>

"Hey, sweetie!" Katherine forced herself not to squeal as she hugged her daughter tightly. "How was your first day?"

"Good," she chirped as she squirmed under her embrace. "I have a present for you."

Katherine tucked back a dark curl. "A present, what is it, sweetheart?"

Nikki pulled out a piece of construction paper and put it on the table as she sat down in Katherine's lap. She pointed at the squiggles. "Look Mommy, Miss Abby told us to draw our family. This is you Mommy and this is Daddy and Aunt Bekah-"

"You even drew Klaus," Katherine said as she pointed to them blond squiggle.

Nikki nodded. "He's frowning because uncle Klaus is always grumpy." She handed it to her. "Can you put it on the fridge so that daddy can see it?"

-End of Chapter Five-

Thanks for your reviews! I'm back in college, so please keep in mind that updates will be slower, but I will try my best to update at least once a week.


	6. Trying Times

_Six: Trying Times_

Seven Years Old. . .

"We'll be back soon, sweetheart," Elijah said as he kissed Nikki's cheek and Katherine hugged her tightly. "And we'll bring you back an amazing souvenir." Katherine promised.

Katherine and Elijah were going on a second honeymoon for two weeks to Italy and Nikki was going to stay with her Aunt Rebekah and Uncle Klaus. "Bye, mom, bye daddy." Nikki waved at them from the front door.

Rebekah smiled. "Have fun you two and bring me a bottle of wine!" Rebekah and Katherine weren't what you would call friends, but the two girls had bonded ever since Katherine had adopted Nikki and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Katherine made Elijah very happy.

Rebekah turned to her niece. "Ready for some shopping?"

Like her adopted mother and aunt Nikki had develop the love of shopping from a young age. She grabbed her small purse that had been a present from her Aunt Rebekah for her sixth birthday. Rebekah drove her to the mall as they entered a small boutique filled with fancy dresses.

Nikki giggled as she pulled on the train of an icy blue dress. "Look Aunt Bekah, it looks like the dress Elsa wears in frozen."

"Please don't touch," a rail thin saleswoman said with a sniff. "How can I help you?"

Rebekah looked at the woman pointedly. "We would like my niece to try on formal dresses, preferably in shades of lavender, oh and it has to be a flower girl dress."

"Very well, madam."

When the woman left Nikki wrinkled her nose and looked at her aunt, "Who's getting married? And why do I need a flower girl dress."

Rebekah winked. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Pinky swear," Nikki said as she wrapped her baby finger around Rebekah's.

"Well, your mom and your daddy left on a very special honeymoon." Rebekah smiled. "Your daddy is going to ask your mommy to marry him, and they'll need a precious flower girl."

"And Mommy will say yes?" Nikki looked doubtful, her mother didn't seem like the marrying type even though she clearly loved her father.

"She better say yes." Rebekah snorted as the saleslady showed her several dresses in Nikki's size in the perfect shade of lavender.

"I like this one, it's poufy," Nikki smiled as she twirled around the dressing room. The dress was white with a short puffy skirt and small lavender flowers along with a wide lavender sash.

"Then we'll have that one, wrap it up please." Rebekah ordered. Once they had purchase the dress they walked back to the car and Nikki stopped short in front of the pet shop.

"Oh, look Aunt Bekah a puppy! And such a cute puppy!" she pointed to the small golden hair dog that was wagging its tail.

Rebekah smiled. "The puppy is cute, do you want it Nikki. But having a pet is a huge responsibility."

"Yes, oh I promise aunt Bekah! I'll walk it and feed it and play with it," she frowned. "But Daddy doesn't like dogs, he says they're messy and Mommy likes kittens."

"Yeah, well daddy isn't here right now," Rebekah entered the pet shop. "And if he asks, you can't just tell him his beloved little sister bought you the puppy."

"Aunt Bekah, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, darling."

"When are you going to have a baby?" Nikki asked innocently. "So I can have a little cousin to play with?"

There was a pained look on Rebekah's face, she knew that Katherine and Elijah still hadn't told her about the vampire thing, they were waiting until she was ten though Nikki already knew that she was adopted because her birth parents had "died." "I'm afraid I can't have a baby, sweetie at least now right now."

Nikki nodded sadly. "Mommy and Daddy said the same thing, but I'm sure that one day you're going to have lots of babies aunt Bekah and you're going to be very happy."

Rebekah's eyes watered. "Well, for now I'm glad that you're my pretend baby for now and I'm sure your mom and dad love you very much."

* * *

><p>"Uncle Klaus?" Nikki stood on her tippy toes in order to get Klaus' attention, though Klaus seemed more interested in finishing his latest painting. "Uncle Klaus, Uncle Klaus, Uncle-"<p>

"What?" Klaus finally looked down irritably. "Shouldn't you be with Rebekah?"

Nikki shrugged. "She said that she was going to take a nap with her friend Stefan and that you would play with me."

Klaus held back a groan. "Of course, responsibility falls to me."

"Can I draw with you?"

"If it means that you will leave me alone, sure." He handed her several pieces of paper and a set of color pencils. "Now don't break them, I got them all the way from Italy."

Nikki nodded and for a few minutes everything was quiet until Nikki once again said. "Uncle Nik? Why are you a puppy?"

"What?" Klaus scowled. "No. Who the hell told you that?"

Nikki shrugged. "Mommy was teasing Daddy and telling him that you were a puppy."

Klaus muttered something under his breath before turning back to her. "Nikki, I'm am not a puppy."

She cocked her head. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" he snapped, getting irritated at a seven year old. "Now go back to your drawing."

-End of Chapter Six-

Next up puberty, bra shopping, mood swings, and boys!


	7. Changes

_Seven: Changes_

Twelve Years Old. . .

When Nikki was ten years old Katherine and Elijah told her about vampires, though Nikki apparently wasn't that surprise because she caught Katherine sneaking a blood bag or two when she was younger. That same year they moved to the French Quarter much to Katherine's annoyance.

According to Klaus he wanted all of them to experience joy in what used to be their family home which was just a pathetic way of saying that she was lonely, though Nikki and Elijah didn't mind, Katherine wasn't that happy to be moving to Klaus' zip code, though she had to hand it to the hybrid, he hadn't tried to kill her in the past two years.

Though Katherine knew that it was more for Nikki and Elijah's sake. It surprise Katherine how fast time could past, she had never really thought about it before, but ever since they had Nikki she had been thinking more about it.

Nikki was now growing from a little girl into a young woman, a little shy of the teenager years, or "Hell Years" as Elijah sometimes groaned about. Her dark curly hair was long now and curled around her heart shaped face, her olive green eyes popped against her pale face, and Katherine noticed that her jeans and clingy t-shirts clung to her young body in a way that they had never had before.

Katherine had also noticed that Nikki was growing breasts, her chest was smaller than Katherine's had been at that age, but there were still obviously there and her training bras were too small for her chest anyway. Even though she was upset about her "baby" growing up, now Katherine could introduce her to the exiting new world of lingerie and how to seduce a man (at the appropriate time of course) and while Katherine was excited about Nikki's teenage years and for her to have the teenage experience that she never had, it was easy to see that Elijah was less than please and it annoyed Nikki that her father sometimes treated her as if she were still six years old.

"And where are you two going?" Elijah asked amused at his now wife and daughter, both who were checking their makeup near the dining room mirror. It was funny how Katherine and Nikki did the exact same things without even noticing.

"I'll be in the car," Nikki said quickly as she bolted outside.

Elijah raised an eyebrow as he placed his hands on Katherine's hips. "What was that all about? Did she get another detention, Kat you can't be covering for her all the time-"

"I'm not," Katherine rolled her eyes. "Dictator, we're just going to have a little mother-daughter outing manicures, lunch, bra shopping-"

Elijah sputtered. "What? She doesn't need that, she's still so young-"

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Elijah, just because you're living in planet denial doesn't mean that everyone else is."

"I'm not in denial."

"Elijah, there are breasts, you knew that she was going to get them eventually, honestly this shouldn't come as a surprise to you."

"Don't say that word," Elijah flushed as he handed her his credit card. "I need a drink."

"Wow, I never thought I would hear Elijah say those words."

* * *

><p>"Oh, look mom these are so cute!" Nikki squealed as she picked up a dark blue bra with a little white ribbon. This was one of the many reasons that Nikki loved her mom, she made things not so embarrassing and she was actually helpful, and as much as she loved her daddy he could baby her too much.<p>

Katherine scrunched up her nose. "Too boring, try something more girly and fun, but first we need to get you measured."

Nikki flushed. "Do I have too?"

"Well, you can't just pick one at random," Katherine rolled her eyes. "I know it's embarrassing, but it won't take long I promise. Do you want me to measure you or the saleslady?"

"You," she said after a while and a few minutes later they found themselves in the dressing room with a measuring tape that Katherine had stolen.

"34 B." Katherine said. "Now stop blushing, it's not the end of the world."

"Mom, can I get a lace bra?" Nikki asked curiously. "Like the ones we saw in that catalogue the other day."

"Sure," Katherine said. "And don't tell your father I told you this but honey, the right kind of bra can get you anywhere."

Nikki shook her head. "Yeah, I think I'm just going to ignore that advice."

* * *

><p>"Why are you pouting?" Klaus asked annoyed, he had been trying to finish a painting and he couldn't concentrate if Elijah was too busy pouting all over the place. "Did Katerina rip one of your ties again?"<p>

"No," Elijah snapped. "It's just . . . I feel old I guess."

"I hate to break it to you, but you've looked the same since the 10th century."

Elijah sighed. "You know what I mean, I just feel that Nikki is growing up too fast, then she's going to go away to college, and get married-"

"You can always turn her," Klaus pointed out even though Katherine wanted to do it at some point, Elijah was firm about the idea that she should have a normal life. Elijah gave him a dirty look. "Look, brother no matter how old Nikki is she is still your daughter and I have no doubt in my mind that she loves you."

Elijah gave him a small smile. "Thanks brother."

-End of Chapter Seven-

First fight coming up next.


	8. Lesson Learned

Eight: Lesson Learned

_-Fifteen Years Old-_

Elijah sneaked up behind Katherine and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek softly as he played with her blouse's ribbon around her waist. "This Saturday is our anniversary," he whispered in her ear causing Katherine to smile. "And I have just booked up a lovely and very expensive suite in Rome with a nice view and even a couple's massage."

"Oh, please like you're the type to get a massage," Katherine rolled her eyes. "And as much as I would love to have you suddenly forgotten about Nikki?"

"Who?" Elijah joked. "Kat, Nikki is fifteen and she hasn't gotten in trouble, lately either way and besides Klaus and Rebekah will be here."

Katherine scoffed. "You mean your brother Klaus who is more interested in his water colors and Rebekah who chases everything wearing a polo shirt. Besides you know how Nikki can get a little out of control."

Elijah wrapped his hands around her waist. "Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black? I think your karma finally arrived," Katherine rolled her eyes. "Besides even though Nikki can be a little . . . wild. I have no doubt in my mind that she is responsible enough to handle herself for one weekend-"

Elijah was cut off by Katherine's ringing phone. She winced. "Hang that thought it's the school." She opened it and pressed it to her ear. "Hello . . . yes . . . how? Are you sure . . . we'll be on our way." Katherine looked at Elijah sarcastically. "Well, your lovely, responsible daughter just got expelled, we need to head out to the school right now."

"What?" Elijah asked alarmed. "Expelled? How why?"

"Just Nikki being Nikki." Katherine said without offering a response as she grabbed her purse. "Something tells me you better be thinking about rescheduling that trip."

* * *

><p>"It wasn't my fault, dad!" Nikki snapped once they returned back home an hour later. She put her hands on her hips and glared at them. Nikki had turned into a pretty young woman with her dark hair up to her shoulder and her olive green eyes popping against her small, heart shaped face.<p>

"Then I guess that Melissa's nose broke all by itself," Elijah said sarcastically as he put his keys on the table. "Nicolette, what on earth possessed you to grab Melissa Brown by the shoulders, throw her against the locker doors, and then punch her in the nose?"

Nikki flinched when he called her by her full name. "She called me a slut," she snapped. "What was I supposed to do-"

"You could have turned the other cheek-"

"Oh, yeah like you and mom would-"

"Watch it, young lady-"

"Ok, enough both of you," Katherine interrupted when she saw that Nikki and Elijah looked closed to strangling each other. She had to admit that ever since Nikki had reached her teen years, she and Elijah's relationship had gone a bit sour. Not that Katherine blame her, Elijah could play the overprotective daddy card a lot. "Nikki, got to your room. We'll talk about it in the morning."

"But I'm supposed to go to Anne's party tonight." She protested.

Katherine raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want to test me right now?" Nikki murmured something under her breath as she headed upstairs.

"Sorry," Elijah said as he kissed her forehead. "I know I lost my temper, I can't believe that she got expelled."

"Suspended," Katherine raised her eyebrows. "We changed it remember and you know that Nikki has a temper."

"Like her mother," Elijah gave a wry smile. "How many more years till the teenage years end?"

Katherine shrugged. "Trust me, when they are gone, you're going to wish they would come back."

"Something tells me I'll doubt it." He grabbed her hand. "Let's go upstairs, I need to de-stress."

* * *

><p>Katherine stopped kissing Elijah and looked up. "I hear something."<p>

Elijah shrugged as he ran a hand through her dark hair. "It's nothing." He groaned when Katherine put on her robe and headed downstairs. She hid against one of the doors and watched as Nikki tried to sneak out the front door in a short black dress that she seemed to have stolen out of Katherine's closet. "Don't even think about it."

Nikki groaned. "How did-"

"Vamp hearing," Katherine said. "And no offense you need to try a little bit harder."

Nikki couldn't help but smile a little. "Is that a challenge?"

Her smile twitched. "Don't start Nikki, believe me you don't want to piss off you dad even more."

Nikki smirked. "We don't have to tell him."

"Then I'll be in trouble," she locked the door. "Now go to sleep, before we install pit bulls to guard the front door."

* * *

><p>"Don't ask," Katherine said as she crawled next to Elijah.<p>

"You're amazing," Elijah said as he rubbed her shoulders. "Well at least now she's mad at both of us."

Katherine smiled. "Things used to be so much easier when she was younger." She sighed. "It just sucks that she has to grow up."

-End of Chapter Eight-

Hiatus ended yay, I finally got rid of my writer's block for this story, unfortunaly I decided that there will only be two more chapters left after this one.


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